What do you care for judgment brethren?  Does its ominous imminence capture your imagination?  Do you perhaps fear the coming fury of Almighty God?  Tell me, what then is this fear sponsoring in you?  What predictive, demonstrative or proximal action has it created through its overwhelming pressure upon coming events?  Or has it done its very best in paralyzing your movements as intended?

If you know Christ then you are showing him your love by obeying his commands.  If you have shown him that obeyance then you have read, studied, prayed upon and written the Holy Word upon your heart.  If you have that Word, then you know only those outside his grace are to be subjected to judgment, for our sins have been forgiven.  If you still feel unforgiven then you perhaps are being prompted by God’s Holy Spirit to once again stand with Christ and stop your worldly backsliding.  If you are listening to the Holy Spirit then you know I am speaking to you and if you are not listening to the Holy Spirit then your fear of His coming judgement is well exercised.

Everyone tells me they don’t know what it is they are supposed to do for God.  I say, “poppycock”, because that is the most pleasant word I could possibly use for this vile practice of disobedience to Christ.  Make disciples, pray unceasingly, heal the lame, the blind, feed the sheep, show the love of Christ to a dying world.  Pretty clear, no obfuscation, no hiding, no deception.  Stop trying to find something to hide behind, excuses really look like vomit upon your white garment.  Pay attention to punctuation, especially in God’s Word.

For example, Ephesisans 1 is comprised of only four sentences, each phrase or paragraph in full dependence upon its predecessor for complete clarification and understanding.  Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus.   This first sentence is wonderfully crafted by the Holy Spirit, clarifying identity, reason, purpose, attribution and audience but it does even more, by leaving us craving the next passage.  Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.  

We are again fulfilled in finding that we are invited to hear the Word of God in promised grace and peace from the One God through two parts of his triune nature.  Have you contemplated being extended grace and peace by your God’s Father and Son nature?  Have you been reading the same book that I have, oh, I forgot you only pay attention to the parts that have drama, a fuzzy feeling or that justify your lack of commitment?  I beg your forgiveness in advance, but I feel it is now incumbent upon me to become the iron God intended.  This luke-warm practice counts you a present member of the worldly church and you ought to be slightly frightened by what the Lord Jesus says in Revelation 3 that he is going to do with that church.  Fear ought to provoke commensurate behavior otherwise it is useless as a warning mechanism. You either fear him or you fear this world, you must decide which scares you more.  Or perhaps you don’t fear either, a more dangerous position, I cannot imagine.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his brace, wherein he hath made us accepted the beloved. 

Wow, I have to sit and meditate on that one for a while just to grasp its awesome understanding.  Oh, you just read over it once twelve years ago and never took time to get it.  I am so sorry brother that you have shown yourself false to the duty lain before you in Christianity.  You wish that I would coddle your sensibilities a bit more and perhaps feed you and let you take a sweet nap.  No, that is not my part in this novel you are writing.  I have been sent to say, “AWAKE, for God’s judgment is at hand and we still have work left for us to do, before the master arrives.  Make straight your path for the Kingdom of God is nigh.  Whoops, there I’ve said it, now I am the bad Christian man who doesn’t deal with every naughty child with a gentle hand.  You have been spared the rod long enough.  I can withstand your contempt if in fact it causes your arousal to review the responsibility you have to Christ the King.  Now I am telling you that your inaction is costly, not only to Christ but to you as well.  Perhaps you ought to read the parts of his word that tell about how he will deal with them who bury their talents.  Better yet, read that passage above once, just once like you intended to truly understand it and write its meaning upon your heart.  We will both be truly blessed if you do.

The next passage in Ephesians tells of God’s love for us that he planned our redemption before the beginning of time that we might be saved and sealed with His Holy Spirit simply out of His amazing and glorious will to do so.  Shouldn’t that captivate your attention?  If it doesn’t cause you to read this segment for at least one hour today and you instead spend that time at leisure, television, sports or recreation then your priorities have become contaminated.  I pray for you and understand that I may not be your favorite person right now, but that is an exchange I will gladly make if it either saves your eternal soul, prepares you to be snatched out in the rapture or better yet creates in you a desire to go forth and make disciples of men.

The grace and peace of God to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ the King.

Free will is an anathema to believers without discernment.  I am polluted, my thoughts are shadows of this worlds’, historic megalomania, any path I declare righteous will certainly destroy me or those foolish enough to follow my lead.  This thing has never been about me, that is why our greatest achievement is the loss of self.  When I can drop, this life, this job, this path, in exchange for following Christ then and only then will I have done something worth the price of living.  Lord knows I have never been happy anywhere else but in his potter’s grasp.  The day I learned to live was the day I followed my brothers’ example, dropped my nets and followed him.

He may place me somewhere, in a role, a job, a journey or a family with clear direction and intention for his own glory, but that is not the same as a script written in my own hand.  My learning has always been about letting go and refusing to embark on the next set of grand plans to place my signature on history.  Frankly, I just ain’t that smart, talented, athletic or rich to make a dent in the shiny mettle of man.  I was meant for bearing water for the king, planting seeds in his good earth and caring for the wounded.  These are not the plans of a man seeking history, they are the desires or restings of a servant.  I cannot make you happy.  You define your happiness and expect that I will produce the spark, kindling and fuel to continue fanning its flame.  These things are outside his direction for the man he created.  If we both served him there would be no argument.

I don’t want to have things, to capture dreams, to hold territory or treasures to provide me some assurance.  My surety is Christ.  The greatest joy I have ever experienced was giving you my last portion, knowing fully that my next would be provided.  Encouragement costs me nothing but lost moments of self-concern.  I do not need a safety net, a nest egg, a guaranteed paycheck or a storehouse full of goods and grains, unless they are intended to feed his sheep during a time of scarcity.  I need to be about the master’s work, planting, fertilizing, cultivating in dedicated worship to a worthy King.  This world traps, confines, smothers and puts out the ember to them born for ferocious fire.  A man without treasure worries not for it loss when evil approaches.  That is not to say that we ought not protect our treasures just that what God would have me treasure is completely different than the ideals of man.  Therefore we have forgotten to stand for our principles for character alone makes a man.  You can take everything I own and still never defeat me, for my victory is in Christ and the man I am meant to become.  Knowing when to let it all go is the greatest thing a man can know.  What he will give me to replace it is the miracle only a disciple may ever hope to understand.  In Jesus’s mighty name I pray to you Almighty God because you alone are worthy of my praise.  My God, My King, My Lord.  I love you with all of my heart, mind, soul and strength.

Jesus is making me like Him.  Certainly he is the model or example for my behavior.  But I am concerned with my brothers and their decision making with regard to the Holy Spirit’s prompting.  You know when they tell you that someone, usually someone who is curious on what it means to be Christian, is watching you?  Well, I want you to know that I am watching too.  Sometimes I am amazed at your Christ likeness, but many times, especially as of late, I have seen you ignore, overlook or conveniently translate scripture to avoid accountability.  For example, are you going out in the world making disciples?  When was the last time you attempted to make a disciple, especially with someone you didn’t previously know?  Why are women teaching in your church, being given authority over men?  Why have you counseled someone to divorce, simply out of unhappiness or inconvenience?  Are you tithing or robbing God?  Did you give that guy the money he asked for or did you come up with some excuse about you didn’t want to contribute to his substance abuse?  Have you forgiven that person you truly hate?

I fall short at least several times per day, maybe from God’s perspective the accounting is much higher, but am I (A) aware of my offenses and (B) confessing my sins before God that I might be in right standing.  Have I determined that I am going to follow the rules of man where they are in direct conflict with the word of God?  The burning man event is going on in northern Nevada this month.  Who if any of us Christians is going out there to pray against the high places of pagan worship?  Our meekness has become a cushiony couch upon which we spiritually slumber and grow less distinct in our worldliness.   When shall we awake?  How about today?  Obey God’s word today.  Prove that you love Him.  I ask do you love your worldly mother of father?  Prove it.  The only way is to honor them through obedience and right behavior.  How is it any different with almighty God?

It is easy to place the concentration of my behavior and ask what would anyone else do in a particular instance, but what truly matters is what we do in each instance.  I must know Jesus personally to know how he wants me to behave in this life.  I must know God’s Word and write it upon my heart so that when standing upon a deciding event I immediately choose the skinny path.  I cannot approach my faith with nonchalance. I am not watching you because I wish to be your judge I am watching because your life matters to me and how you behave reflects upon Almighty God.  Please obey him, please follow his word, please become the man or woman he is counseling you to become.  Love him in active faith, show it in your walk not just in your talk.

Wow, my first inclination is to try and listen but if they push boy do I have a propensity to take their legs out from under them.  Father, what is the secret to suffering, willingly, accepting the challenge of our time?  This is not a thing of my spirit, for I would win the day in swordplay, wordsmanship, cunningness and inclination to better my fellow man, relegating all to status of enemy.  Will you allow me to concentrate my focus on your objective, giving you the control and achieving a level of patience yet unobserved in my countenance?  What would I become if I could not just show mercy when it is easy but actually, “be gentle” even in battle’s midst?

He that soweth the good seed is the son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.  As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.  Matthew 13:37-40

But John forbad him, saying I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?  And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.  Then he suffered him.  Matthew 3:14-15

Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth?  But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.  And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.  And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.  Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.  Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, and do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his son to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.  For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?  And if ye salute your brethren only, what do you more than others? do not even the publicans so?  Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Father, clearly you are calling me to something beyond my reckoning or personal performance.  I cannot ignore it and I cannot personally achieve it, therefore I am left to prayer and patience.  Mold me in to that man who loves all especially advantaging the circumstances where I may show my enemies mercy, grace and hope.  This is what I want, total surrender to your will for my heart, nothing else will suffice.  I commit myself to being perfect even as you are perfect my Lord.  In Jesus’s Holy Name I pray.  Lord give them hope and let them know I truly love them, where words seem to be insufficient.

Accuracy and imperception.  If I am unclear then my discernment will be skewed.  The foundation must be a new wine skin, a new creature a body washed clean, risen from the dead of poisonous imperception.  I seek to see through the eyes of Christ, perceive via the mind of Christ and speak through the spirit of Almighty God. If I feel that I must argue a point then it should be done from the Word of God, otherwise it is based upon my wisdom that has already been confounded by Almighty God.  If I feel as if I have been falsely accused and believe that God is a righteous judge then I should feel no urge to self-defense unless I have been deceived into fleshly thinking. When I electively, demonstrate my own will in speaking from my corrupted flesh then I am guaranteed conflict with God, people and all of my surroundings.  How then do I remain in the spirit where Christ’s thoughts and Words abound?

This place is painful, but nothing as painful as separation from Almighty God.  This place offers glory and gain, but nothing like that which I receive in the promises of Almighty God.  This place offers friendship, family and felicity, but none of it built upon the unshakeable foundation that is Christ the Rock.  My place is with God in peace, love, work, understanding and commitment to purpose.  I cannot live outside this purpose and expect to righteously explain or be protected from the ravages of mortal men or spirits aligned against all that is Holy.  I must be fully aligned with God and remove or extricate myself from any circumstance that demands I re-enter my flesh.  This is not my home, this is my place of work and as such I may travel to work each day remaining the man of God He requires without joining in or becoming embroiled in the sinful folly of man.  The Lord has overcome all of this, therefore I have the hope that though I am challenged I also am victor.  He has given me this gift, I must choose to accept it and display for all to see my Father’s greatness.

What then of situations that surpass my abilities?  None shall if I am fully dependent on God.  That doesn’t mean that everything is always going to go my way or that I may name it and claim whatever benefit I desire.  It means that my problems are not my own.  God has bid me turn to him and He will give me peace.  I just don’t follow this direction.  I give up for the 6330th time.  I was never meant to win this war or any war, I am simply a messenger of God’s Love and Grace.   Therefore, my problems are self-manufactured for they always lay outside of the part I was sent to perform.  Lord, free me from having to be right, acceptable to man or this childish need to be validated by every person I meet.  I truly mean them no offense but I really do not care about their opinion of my efficacy.  You alone are my judge and though I would have them love me, or offer me respect, if receiving that requires that I enter fleshly discussion, argument, contemplation or litigation then I want none of it.  I thank you for allowing me to stay on plan and simply offer them love, without requirement and a gospel that will set them eternally free.

In Christ I have found eternal life, let me begin to live it now.  In Jesus’s name I pray.

In prayer, in song, in open praise, in giving, cherishing and thankfulness.  Why does the Lord want us to come to him, especially when our words recognize his kindness, righteousness and worth?  How come the writers of the Bible spend so much time describing God’s glorious attributes?  One question; what happens the moment people forget God’s goodness?

I can only move on from truth, beginning from a lie effectively prohibits growth assuring whatever is produced as bi-product with be corrupted.  We as a church and as individuals are susceptible to the corrupting influence of sin and easily swayed by the voice of flesh.  We serve a God who has never once let us down, never once backed out on even one of his promises or failed to show up when we cried out.  Yet we continue to have trust issues, failing to depend on God’s dependability.  One question; when choosing a bridge would I choose the one that has known weaknesses or the one that has perpetually shown sure footing.

Without faith it is impossible to please God.  That presents a difficult conundrum, if faith without works is dead faith, then only my faith that has demonstrated action will possibly please God.  Therefore, I can sit here and have the greatest ideas, programs, initiatives, incentives, drives, movements or studies, but if they produce no action, then they were never capable of pleasing Almighty God.  There has to be fruit, there has to be something capable of sustainment as an outcome of any productive equation or there is nothing produced by dead faith.  Therefore, any agreements I entered or contracts signed that were entered to protect myself from circumstantial influences are worthless for they place no faith in God but in man to come to my aid against the influences over which God has infinite and ultimate authority.  Starting with truth, going to the source, both share inescapable logic.

Finally, if my objective is a consistent, communicative relationship with God the Father such that I begin to have faith in his word and action.  And the only method to developing that manner or relationship is knowing and developing a trust in God’s character as he never let’s me down.  The only way to know God is through regular study of his word, lengthy time spent in prayer and communion with our guide, counselor and friend the Holy Spirit.  It is then incumbent upon me to spend that necessary time dedicated to furthering the relationship.  Additionally, since I know that I am susceptible to reactivity to circumstance, then I must be logical and proactive in my planning for those instances where I must choose to go to him instead of emotional or flinching reaction.  I must know God, but I must also know myself, so that I may identify those areas where I may be susceptible to enemy or fleshly influence.  If I know that I am fearful then when I see fear I must choose not to feed it or listen to its leverage I must instead turn to God in faith, who will either pluck me out of the circumstance or show me the way through the instance.  It is always a choice this walk with God and the paths are typically clear, but we must always be aware that the enemy lays in wait for our destruction and his greatest ploys are deception, falsehood and camouflage.  Therefore being a Christian is an enlightened persons game, sober minded, spirit filled and dependent upon God for everything.  In Christ’s mighty name I pray.  Amen.

In her dream God asked that she consider sacrificing her eyes for those who cannot see.  After she got over the shock of his request, I asked her to consider that God was testing her faith asking her to give up her vision, her view, represented by her eyes but truly reflecting the way she sees her life vs. what He would have her see.  It made sense to her as she had never sacrificed her point of view in exchange for God’s Will.  Additionally, she saw how this would give vision to the blind, who could not yet see Christ, through her obedient witness, in effect giving them her vision.  She teared up as I reminded her that she was never as happy as when she was involved in serving God.

It is simple, this old world.  We want it complex for in its complexity we may hide in the tall grass of perpetual misunderstanding.  Doing the work of God for a Christian is our purpose, yet we confuse it with the complex principles behind a “calling” or a mission field.  Life is its own meaning.  Living it today, loving those around me today, resolving the problems associated with today is my purpose, today.  Tomorrow, perhaps God will send me on some fanciful mission to set the captives free from Egypt, but for today feeding, clothing, praying for, healing and encouraging people is simply my job for the Kingdom.  I wish sometimes that I were some prophet, pastor or warrior with a great big task set before me that will help shape eternity, but all things considered I would rather be a simple man, with a simple plan and a measureable duty upon which I can dedicate all my energy, focus and understanding.  You see God told us all to create disciples, so that is simply God’s Will for all our lives.  His vision vs. mine.

I don’t like watching the churches that are teaching sound doctrine, dwindle, but that is what God says would happen.  I don’t like seeing mega churches grow as businesses, watering down the word and delivering packaged programs intent on entertaining parishioners and keeping their butts in the pew seats.  You see it is simple, we were never meant to sit still.  We are meant to become disciples and go forth as preachers, teachers, witnesses and care-givers, delivering the Gospel to the four corners of the world.  We are not intended to become cogs in a mission to achieve maximum church expansion, burgeoning church roles or as sources of fixed incoming revenue.  The work of a Christian has always been out there, in the world.  Jesus demonstrated that example as he daily went out seeking the lost, blind, lame and disenfranchised, separating himself nightly to prayer and communion with the Father.  His thoughts are complex but the vision is simple, any attempt on my part to complicate it is serving other gods.

So what do I do now that I know his vision is different then my own?  Well it’s simple.

I saw one who proclaimed himself king, rising from his throne of stoney wickedness in the cave of absolute despair.  Leaping for joy he laughed unto the heavens, for God’s faithful had begun and finished prayer in minutes.  Brandishing a tilted smile he threw his cloak about him, circling and covering the entire atrium with inky blackness.  He had succeeded with the simple things of man, always easy to manipulate through weariness, distraction or shiny objects.  He held himself in comfort surrounded in his own self satisfaction and laughed unto the second heaven, toward God.  The angel of light or so he was known catapulted himself skyward in a blink to review the lands he knew were his and the subjects who someday would worship him alone.

What am I doing to upset the enemy’s current effective attacks upon the brethren?  Am I bent in intercessory prayer for the remnant, knowing that my time with God shelters them from the mounting prayers of satan’s minion.  Do I understand that I am assigned ambassador for the gospel of Christ.  And though God may have the stones and sticks proclaim the gospel in my absence that this is the time of my presence.  Do I get it that if I shirk my duty that other’s will suffer and my works will smell of smoke as I give account for my works before Jesus?  Do I get it that God has ordered my progression, from babe, to man to prayer warrior and I alone am responsible for aligning myself with God to achieve the titles; disciple, evangelist, teacher or preacher.  Certainly the churches understand this mandate or do they?  And if they do not, does that increase exponentially the responsibility of my own enlightenment, clarity and action for Christ?  Do I understand the personal and collective consequence of my action or worse yet my inaction?  Certainly being saved and accepting the gift of grace is all that is expected of me.

Does it make you feel good to know that you’ve made satan smile today?  That wretches my stomach, to think that my luke-warm service is making his job easy at dispatching the brethren, that all it took to steal our victory was my own self serving disobedience to Christ.  Father, I know that you are changing me.  I know that your Holy Spirit dwells within us and calls us to righteousness, but I also know that we may quench that spirit with our reluctant service or hearing disabilities.  Forgive me for failing you.  How close I become or remain to you is something for which I acknowledge my control.  Keep me in your Word, Keep me on my knees at the foot of your throne, Keep me singing with joyous recognition of your Majesty and above health let me never miss the opportunities presented me to tell everyone who’ll hear about Christ the King.  I serve you and you alone as it is written My Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  Please help me to refrain from actions or inactions that profit the enemy.  Let me only bring you honor and praise through my walk.  Let me offer up my service in request for protection, grace and your continued presence with my brothers in Christ.

I wanna sing a new song, with words that describe your majesty.  A melody that’s so strong like the beat of my heart in gratefulness of the sacrifice offered me.  Believing in myself I weave octave and sestet, so tightly at first-look you cannot distinguish them together, but just as when I screamed at the storm to cease, I have the habit of  worrying about the weather instead of embracing comfort from the sleeping Christ beside me. How to convey in a simplistic method, the fourteen steps from shame into joy, as the generations you mingled together to produce such a glorious boy.  How else to explain, the joy found even in my pain then my neurons or gluons to be given voice.  Or to utter from the nucleus of my soul, sounds, groans and hidden harmonies to which only God’s Spirit may make you aware.  Do I dare cry out for a song so stunning that it stops men running, waking them from their own path to consider the glories of God?  Why else have I been born then to give this testimony of promises sworn, not by fleshly and fickle men with limited character but by Almighty God, the origin of all that is Holy and True.

Do I love His discipline?  For that matter do I love discipline at all?  If I struggle against that which I know is best for my growth, resilience and longevity, how then may I trust my own apparently contrary decisions?  What builds faith?  TRIALs, followed by the salve of God’s enduring mercy, healing and deliverance.  Since it is impossible to please God without faith and the expression of mature faith is the single greatest element in verifying belief then wouldn’t, no shouldn’t I pursue instruction through discipline or any other effective measure?  In effect I ought to invite and cherish discipline, appreciating fully the stretching of my character brought about by trials.

Then from a non-personal sense, knowing that God’s miracles are always innovative result of God’s Holy Spirit acting in this world, shouldn’t I welcome the opportunity and circumstance that is perfect at preparing me as conduit for such innovation?  The word counsels us to humility, readiness, maintaining a Holy Focus and inclining our ears and hearts toward God.  If discipline or loss be the paramount tools at achieving these wanton states then shouldn’t I seek their visitation enthusiastically?  Ought I seek those opportunities to welcome discipline’s productive hand upon my flesh, mind and spirit?  Instead of complaints wouldn’t you hear my revised voice of thankfulness?

Replace my desire for comfort with a belief in the healing power of hunger.  Prepare my hands, muscles and mind with the strengthening aspects of endurance making me relatively impervious to adversity.  Let me walk, spreading the joyous Word of God, never once considering frailty, falter or slumber.  Take away the fat of a wanton man replaced by the lean of a tested worker for Christ.  Thresh out my doubt replaced with the untouchable knowledge and faith in God’s promised and perpetual victory for us all.